Sting And Darby Allin's Mystery Partner Revealed For AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door

This hugely popular star will be teaming with Sting and Darby Allin at Forbidden Door.

by Andrew Pollard
AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door Tetsuya Naito
AEW/NJPW

Ahead of facing Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki and Sammy Guevara at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door tonight, last night's AEW Collision saw it revealed that Tetsuya Naito is the mystery tag partner of Sting and Darby Allin.

This past Wednesday's AEW Dynamite saw Darby proclaim how AEW Collision would see him and Sting reveal who they'd be teaming with to battle Jericho, Suzuki and Guevara, with Allin teasing how the Ocho has made plentiful enemies over the years.

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Of course, this line from Darby had some fans speculating that Goldberg may by the mystery man for Forbidden Door, as Da Man has famously had on-screen and off-screen issues with Jericho at certain points in their careers. Added to that, Tony Khan has previously suggested he'd be open to bringing Goldberg into AEW, and the WWE Hall of Famer himself has recently noted how he plans on having a formal retirement match/run.

Instead of Goldberg, though, it's Tetsuya Naito who will be teaming with Darby and Sting at Forbidden Door.

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Naito was always a more realistic option for Forbidden Door, with him another who has had his own battles with Jericho. Back in June 2018, the Los Ingobernables de Japón leader lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Jericho; a title Naito would later reclaim from the Canadian at Wrestle Kingdom 13 the following January.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.